Building Mentorship Systems That Create Stronger Leaders With Deneen Spaniol

Deneen Spaniol is the Founder and Chief Growth Strategist of Off the Block, where she helps women launch and expand their businesses and partners with organizations to develop impactful mentorship programs. After a 35-year corporate career in logistics and supply chain, including years at UPS, Deneen turned her experience in process optimization, business development, leadership, and mentorship into a new entrepreneurial chapter. Her approach focuses on creating structured environments where people can learn from shared experiences, strengthen their confidence, and grow as leaders.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [03:00] How 35 years in logistics and supply chain taught Deneen the value of optimization and process-driven organizations.
• [04:40] How Deneen helped develop innovative peer mentorship programs and why the cohort model can be more effective than traditional one-on-one mentorship.
• [07:00] The first question to ask when building a mentorship program: What problem are you trying to solve?
• [09:10] How mentorship can help entrepreneurs recognize and overcome imposter syndrome.
• [13:40] Why finding your voice and overcoming the “likability trap” can make you a more confident leader.
• [15:00] How Deneen now helps women entrepreneurs grow their businesses and organizations build structured mentorship programs.

In this episode:

A successful mentorship program isn't built by simply matching two people. It starts by identifying a problem and designing a system that helps people solve it together.

In this episode, Adi Klevit interviews Deneen Spaniol, Founder and Chief Growth Strategist of Off the Block, about the systems behind effective mentorship and leadership development. Deneen shares lessons from her 35-year corporate career in logistics and supply chain, where she experienced highly process-driven environments and eventually became deeply involved in developing leadership and mentorship initiatives.

Adi and Deneen explore why mentorship programs need a defined purpose before they need participants. Deneen explains her approach of starting with the problem an organization wants to solve, identifying topics that address it, and then creating cohorts where participants can safely share experiences and learn from one another. Rather than relying exclusively on a traditional senior-to-junior mentor model, peer mentorship creates opportunities for people across functions and levels to contribute knowledge and normalize shared challenges.

The conversation also turns to the internal barriers that can prevent talented entrepreneurs and leaders from reaching their potential. Deneen shares her personal experience with imposter syndrome and discusses topics such as finding your voice and escaping the “likability trap.” Ultimately, mentorship works best when it is intentional and structured. By creating the right process, organizations can turn individual experiences into shared learning that strengthens confidence, leadership, and long-term growth.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Adi Klevit on LinkedIn
• Business Success Consulting Group 
• Deneen Spaniol on LinkedIn
• Off the Block

Quotable Moments:

• “I always start backwards: What are we trying to solve?”
• “What’s the problem that is trying to be solved?”
• “Peer mentorship really allows women to learn from each other.”
• “Imposter syndrome, if it’s not given a name and normalized, becomes a barrier to success.”
• “It’s connecting that nebulous feeling to yourself as an individual.”
• “Finding your voice at the table is another topic that we talk about.

Action Steps:

1. Start with the problem. Before launching a mentorship initiative, clearly identify the business or leadership challenge you want it to solve.
2. Design mentorship intentionally. Choose topics and discussion structures that directly support the desired outcome instead of simply pairing people together.
3. Consider peer mentorship. Build cohorts that allow participants across roles and experience levels to learn from shared experiences.
4. Create psychological safety. Give participants an environment where they can speak candidly without worrying that every conversation will be recorded or shared.
5. Recognize imposter syndrome. Help leaders connect their results with the experience, skills, teamwork, and effort that produced them.
6. Develop confident communication. Encourage leaders to be kind and professional without allowing the need to be liked to prevent clear, direct communication.

Sponsor for this episode:

This episode is brought to you by Business Success Consulting Group.

At Business Success Consulting Group, we create custom processes and tailor-made management systems so businesses can thrive.

Businesses simply can’t survive without workable systems and well-documented processes. That’s why our team of experienced professionals takes care of it for you.

We provide business owners, entrepreneurs, and key executives with six phases to success, along with the long-lasting systems necessary to support business expansion. 

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Visit bizsuccesscg.com today or email info@bizsuccesscg.com to schedule a free consultation.